Eddie Howe Reflects on Newcastle’s Effort and Future Matches

Following Newcastle’s recent defeat, manager Eddie Howe shared his thoughts with BBC Match of the Day. He commented, “I thought it was a really good game with two really good teams. We gave a lot to the match and contributed a lot, in terms of endeavour and attitude.” Howe added, “I’m probably disappointed with the two goals we conceded, especially the second which we thought was self-inflicted, but we gave everything to try and get something.” Addressing whether Newcastle merited a positive outcome, Howe stated, “I felt we did for the character shown in coming back. I thought there were a lot of positive things, a lot of very good football. I felt as though we were chasing the game, we were moments away from scoring at any moment.” Regarding the team’s current shortcomings, he identified, “I think it is just the final bit in both boxes, where we didn’t defend the two moments well enough and I felt we had enough positive actions to score more. “Hopefully the goal will go a long way to ridding ourselves of that. No one can change it but us and we will continue to attack games and attack teams.” When asked about the emotional toll of their current performance streak, Howe remarked, “I think you go through all types of cycles as a manager. You understand the difficult moments and you just have to ride through them knowing you’ll come back again. The attitude of the players gives me the most heart and that is the most important thing.” Concerning potential squad rotations for Wednesday’s upcoming cup match against Chelsea, he explained, “We are probably not in the position where we can make as many as we would like. We will try and make the right decisions for both games. We want to try and go as far as we can.”